1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to communication technology based on femto cells and, more particularly, to a redirection method of a femto cell and a communication system based thereon.
2. Description of the Related Art
A femto cell, also referred to as Home Node B (HNB), is a small cellular base station designed for use in residential or small business environments. A femto cell allows service providers to extend service coverage inside a home, especially where access would otherwise be limited or unavailable, without a need for expensive cellular towers. It also decreases backhaul costs since it routes mobile phone traffic through an IP network.
In a communication system based on such femto cells, femto gateways are generally installed between a femto cell and a core network. The femto gateway serves as a communication medium between the femto cell and the core network and thereby can disperse a load of the core network. Normally, each individual femto gateway may be connected with a number of femto cells, so that an overload may unfavorably happen in one or more of the femto gateways.
The operation performance of the femto gateway may decrease when the femto cells connected thereto or user terminals accessed to each femto cell increase in number. Also, poor efficiency of hardware in the femto gateway, an unfavorable communication environment between the femto cell and the femto gateway, or between the femto gateway and the core network may also invite a drop in operation performance of the femto gateway. In such circumstances the femto gateway may often fail to provide a reliable communication between the core network and the femto cell.